Refugees

7/22/05

The heat and humidity of Stranglethorn Vale was oppressive, making the days hunt a miserable affair. It had been three weeks since the tiger had lost his mate and cubs. That fateful day played itself out in his mind over and over, torturing him into alternating bouts of depression and rage.

The days hunt was a failure again. The heat kept the prey in shelter or at the waterholes. Although the waterholes were full of potential meals, there were too many beasts constantly on high alert. Perhaps after a nap he would find a juicy target overcome by the heat. "Yes, a nap is what I need" he thought. The tiger sighed heavily as he curled up alone under the shade tree and began to dream...


That fateful day started on a promising note. The sun had retreated behind the clouds making the hunt easier. No shadows to startle the prey. No bright glint to the fangs. It was supposed to be a good day.

Father awoke with the cubs pouncing on his tail and tugging at his ears. He growled menacingly at the cubs freezing them in their tracks. Mother jumped on him with accustomed swiftness, but his sly smile gave his intentions away and the next half hour was spent in a family wrestling match.

Here the cubs were safe. Not even the raptors would risk the wrath of tigers protecting their cubs. It was time however to teach them to hunt, and the cubs would no longer be under their constant watchful eyes. The tiger and his mate knew this was a dangerous time, but it was the way of the world.

The cubs watched as mother quietly circled the cubs in slow motion. They took great interest in her low crouch and careful placement of each step so that a quick launch could be made at any moment. The father played the unsuspecting prey grazing with an occasional glance at the clouds.

There was a sudden burst of noise and a blurred shape emerged from the bushes behind mother. She wheeled to face the intruder and was quickly sent sprawling by the stampeding basilisk. Knowing that basilisks are stupid and flighty beasts, father roared in an attempt to alter its course and fell into a full run, but the beast was in full panic mode. The cubs didn’t have time to get out of its way and were tossed into the air by the 6 wildly swinging legs of the stampeding beast.

The full grown Lashtail Raptor broke through the bushes a second later in pursuit of its prey. Mother recovered from her roll and launched at the Raptor from the left as father jumped for the raptors throat. The raptor swung its tail and hit her mid-air just before she slammed into the side of the beast. Fathers jaws found their mark and closed tightly over the beasts windpipe. The raptor thrashed but the tiger was fighting for the lives of his family and his grip would not be broken. The beast slowed, dropped to its side and finally suffocated.

It was not until fighting his way from under the massive head that father was able to grasp the full horror of what had just happened. His mate was lying broken and motionless, the cubs were scattered and in impossible positions. Weakened by the realization, his eyesight dimmed, legs began to wobble and he collapsed.


The tiger awoke with his heart aching and a mournful growl already escaping his throat. The nearby creatures only briefly noticed, for it had become a regular occurrence during the past three weeks. The bones protruding from his sides made it difficult to sleep, and his stomach screamed for meat… but he was too weak to hunt now.

Unnoticed, another creature had come to investigate the strange growling… an odd little dwarf by the name of Hecubus. Hec was a hunter and leatherworker who made his living from the creatures of the world. Normally this tiger would have quickly become a pair of boots, but there was something in the cats haunted eyes that stirred something in his soul. He reached into his bag for a raptor steak and tossed one onto the ground near the tiger.

Father looked at the raptor meat on the ground and his stomach began to ache again. He pawed the meat to his mouth and swallowed it whole. The strange creature grinned and tossed another steak to him which was eaten just as quickly.

Darkness came an hour later. Hec sat by the fire watching the tiger move away, then slowly come back for the occasional jerky strip. He knew the look in the tigers eyes… tragedy. Something that Hec was very familiar with, for he was an orphan himself. Water pooled in Hecs eyes as he recalled a day many years ago…


“HEY!” Hec yelled as the left boot glanced off his ear and onto the ground. His father gave him a stern look. “You need to learn how to do this because you’re NOT going to live around here all yur life and mooch off yur mum and I, ya little beggar!” His father gave him a curt nod as if to finalize the conversation.

“But father, I want to be a OUCH!” he squealed as his mothers boot hit his other ear. “Listen to your father!”

Hec ran from the workshop up to his favorite shade tree outside of the village where he was born and raised. He pouted until falling asleep under the great oak.

He awoke to shouting in the village. He wiped his sleepy eyes, stumbled to his feet and trotted to the village to see what the noise was all about. As he approached, a hush fell upon the crowd around his parents workshop. The constable met him before he could enter.

“Young Hecubus, I need to speak with you.”

“What’s going on? Did father set the workshop on fire again?”

”No Hecubus.”

“Did Mother beat father with a rolling pin again?”

“No Hecubus.”

“Did brother Podsniffer put on a hide and scare villagers again?”

“Will you just SHUT UP?! You just keep… wait… actually yes. But there’s been a terrible accident. Your family is dead.”

”Wha?! What happened?”

“From the looks of things, one of your brothers put on a jaguar hide and caught your father off guard so he shot him.”

“F-f-f-ather shot Podsniffer?”

”Yep… it looks like your mother then shot your father in a fit of rage.”

“M-m-mother shot father?”

“Yep… then pandemonium broke out and the whole shop turned into a shooting gallery. Oh, and one of ‘em hit the Grimfelders prize pig too, so we need to take your parents shop and belongings to pay for it. Got ‘im right between the eyes.”

“Father was shot between the eyes?!” Hec sobbed.

“No no, the pig was shot between the eyes. Sure was a nice pig.”


Hec is suddenly shaken out of his daydream by a voice. He turns to locate the voice, but is unable to find it.

“Should I eat him?”

A chill runs up his spine.

“I should eat him.”

Hec jumps to his feet deftly pulling his rifle from the holster on his back.

“Look at him. He’s barely a meal. Not real smart either.”

Looking around he notices the tiger staring intently at him. “What are YOU looking at?” Hec wonders.

“A fat little dwarf with a bag of meat” came the reply.

Hecs eyes widen and his jaw drops. “The beast is speaking to me. Mother was right! It DID make me go crazy!

“I wonder if he has more food in that bag”

Hec re-holsters the rifle as he stares at the cat in amazement and throws another raptor steak.

“How can I eat a dwarf that feeds me steak? Nope. Can’t eat him.”


To be continued….